Waiting for Sam and Dean to make it back to Bobby's seemed to take forever. Liz had no idea how quickly Atropos was carrying out the killings, but she felt like every minute she waited another person was dying. Another person she'd saved.
"Please sit down before you put a whole in the floor with all your pacing." Balthazar was calm. Sitting stone still, the only part of him that was moving were his eyes, which were following Liz. She glared at him but otherwise ignored him.
"Mom, where did they say they were last time you talked to them?" Ellen sighed and glanced at her daughter from where she was standing in the kitchen.
"They should be here any minute Liz. Go easy on em. Dean made a 10 hour drive in less than 7. The boy's going as fast as he can." The young woman just nodded and continued in her pacing. She heard someone stand, but didn't turn to look at whoever was leaving the room. A hand grabbed her shoulder gently and she felt the familiar rush of wings and disorienting change of scenery. She was standing in the backyard of the salvage yard, decrepit and rusting cars all around her.
"What the hell was that for?"
"You were driving me crazy with all of that pacing in there Elizabeth." Balthazar seemed bored with the whole situation, and she would have been angry if she hadn't known him better. He was deep in thought about something.
"What's wrong?" He gave her a puzzled look. "You're doing that 'silently brooding but pretending to be aloof' thing again. Which can only mean you think something has a chance to go wrong."
"Well we are going after a fate. I have no idea why she's doing this, or what she may try to do to you." Liz took a moment to absorb what he had told her. She rested her small hand on his forearm.
"Everything will be fine. You and the boys will be with me, and with a team like that we can take down anything." Balthazar grunted.
"Your faith in those two hairless apes is both bemusing and worrisome." She laughed.
"I think I hear the Impala in the driveway, let's head back up to the house." Balthazar lifted a hand but she stopped him. "Let's walk. You're going to make me lazy with all this teleportation." This time it was his turn to chuckle.
"So there's a fate killing everyone you've ever saved?"
"It's actually a bit worse than that Sam." Liz's voice was level as she spoke, but it was hard to keep the shake of anger from her tone. "I've saved a couple of hunters in my time as well. And now everyone they've ever saved is dying too."
"So it's not just people you've directly saved, it's people who are alive because of you." She nodded at Sam.
"Alright, well how do we gank fate?" Dean seemed impatient with how long getting a "game plan" together was going.
"You can't." Balthazar made his way over the group of hunters. "But I can. If it comes to that."
"Who said you were coming?" Here came Dean's alpha male routine. Liz groaned.
"Dean, Cas is damn near human right now. And we could use the back up." Liz was frustrated.
"I don't trust him."
"But you trust me? Don't you?" Dean had plenty of reason to trust the eldest Harvelle daughter. The first time she'd proven herself as a hunter he hadn't even met her mother or sister yet. But the thing that stuck with him most was she was there. She was there with him the night he died, the night he went to hell.
"That's not Ruby!" Dean screamed. But it was too late. Sam was already pinned against the wall. "How long you been in her?"
"Not long. But I like it in here, it's all grown up and pretty." Liz cursed to herself. They should have known. She should have seen straight through the bitches pretend game. But she hated the demon, so she couldn't say she knew her very well to begin with. She stood outside of the door to the room where the boys were, listening to everything that was being said inside. Her head was spinning. All she had on her was a shot gun load with rock salt, but she had to do something, she had to stop this.
"I don't have to answer to puppy chow." She'd been so busy thinking she'd missed most of the conversation, but she could hear Lilith moving towards the door now, closer to where she was hiding on the outside of the room. She could hear the hell hounds bursting through the house behind her, bolting towards their master's call. A hand rested on the door knob.
"Sick 'em boys." Liz made her move. She burst through the door, attempting to kick the line of gopher dust back into place as she passed it, but knowing she'd failed. She shot Lilith once, twice in the chest. The demon leveled her white eyes on Liz.
"That hurt." And Liz found herself painfully flying through the air, her body slamming forcefully into the far wall. Three cracks. Those would be broken ribs. The hell hounds hurtled into the room but Lilith put up a hand. "Sit." She made her way over towards Liz, a smile on her face. "Did you really think that would stop me?" She slipped her hand into Liz's abdomen, the movement seemed effortless. Liz screamed in pain. Lilith removed the hand. "I'll have fun with you later, right now I want you to watch." Sam was screaming pleas for Lilith to stop but she paid him no mind. Dean was yanked from the table and onto the floor, hell hounds ripping into his chest.
"No stop! Please! Take me, I'm the one that pissed you off, let us trade places!" The hell hounds ceased in their attack on Dean for a moment. Lilith smiled at her.
"Almost good enough, but sorry, you don't have the right . . . lineage to be of use to me." The dogs went back to destroying Dean's body, ripping into him like he was a chew toy. Sam's screams grew more feral as the blood began pouring from Dean's body. So much blood. Liz knew they only had a few more moment before Dean was gone.
"Stop it! No!" Sam was in hysterics.
"Yes." Liz tore her eyes away from Dean to glance over at the scene unfolding before her. Lilith had her hand raised in Sam's direction. A light so bright it burned her eyes was flooding the entire room. When the light faded Liz noticed Sam was no longer pinned to the wall. He was huddled in the floor, arms protectively over his face. Then he stood and began walking towards her.
"Back." He continued to make his way across the room, stopping to pick up the demon killing knife as he went. "I said back."
"I don't think so." But as Sam lifted the knife to strike the killing blow, Lilith screamed and vacated the body. Liz hit the ground with a thud, blood leaking from her opened abdomen. She felt on the verge of passing out, but all she could focus on was the scene before her. Sam coming undone over the sight of his brother's dead body. Liz blinked back her own tears. She had tried so hard to avoid this, this wasn't supposed to happen. She had failed. A tear slipped down her check, and that started the flood. Her sobs mixed with those of the younger Winchester, the room was filled with the sound of grief. They had failed.
"Yes, I trust you." Dean's face seemed strained. He must have been remembering the same thing she was.
"Well then, Balthazar comes with us. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him Dean. He's the one who saved me that day." Dean gave her a puzzled expression. "My guys were on the floor Dean. Did you really think I walked out of there?" The elder Winchester looked to his baby brother. He shrugged.
"I remember looking over towards her after a while, just kinda registering how bad she'd been injured. And she was gone."
"Fine. The angel can come."
"How do we even find her?" Sam questioned.
"We dangle bait!" Balthazar smiled. "I happen to know what city she's stalking around in right now, and also that she has a special hatred for you two bone heads."
"What does Fate hate me and Sammy?" Balthazar sighed exasperated.
"Maybe it has something to do with the two of you cheating death, constantly. Messes up 'the plan'."
"Okay, so we dangle ourselves in front of fate, she tries to kill us. Then what?"
"Then I freeze time, and we talk to her."
"Just like that?" Dean seemed incredulous.
"Just like that."
Five hours later the Winchester brother found themselves wandering around Manhattan, jumping at every loud noise or sudden movement.
"This sucks." Dean complained.
"Yeah, well you can't fight fate."
They expected something dramatic, something totally off the wall. What they did not expect was construction equipment falling from an apartment building onto their heads. Just before they were crushed under its weight, time froze. And the Winchesters along with it.
"Did you really have to freeze them?" Liz asked the angel beside her.
"I don't want Dean's mouth causing a problem. We can behave like civilized adults, he cannot." Liz chuckled a little. He was right.
"Balthazar." Liz whirled on her heel to see a young blonde women standing stick straight and looking very uptight.
"Atropos."
"I see you have the abomination with you. Hello Elizabeth." Liz kept her mouth firmly shut. Maybe Bal would have to do all the talking.
"How is Elizabeth an abomination?" Atropos glared Liz.
"She was never supposed to exist."
"Excuse me?" Liz broke her self-imposed silence.
"She is not in my plan. She was never supposed to be born. I have no idea where she came from."
"Well you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much . . ." Balthazar began before he was cut off.
"Don't try me."
"Fine, fine. But you are going to stop this."
"No I am not. I am trying to set things right. And you and your 'friends' seem intent to ruin everything."
"Well that's because we are." His cheeky smile was contagious and Liz found herself grinning too. "I'm serious Atropos. If you don't agree to stop killing everyone she's ever saved, I'll kill you right here, right now." And to make his point he slipped his blade into his hand.
"That might not be the wisest idea. I have too sister, bigger in every sense of the word. And if you kill me, they'll come for her. For revenge. Now it's not like you're in the middle of stopping an apocalypse or anything, you can watch her every minute of every day." You could tell by the smug look on her face that she expected Balthazar to back down from her threat.
"That's where you're wrong darling. Screw the apocalypse and those two monkey's attempting to avert it. I would get no greater pleasure than sitting around, waiting for your sister to come, and killing them when they did." Atropos seemed taken aback.
"You're kidding."
"Try me then." She shook her head in frustration.
"Fine. I'll stop, for now. But after the apocalypse starts, which it will Balthazar, do not doubt that, they will all die anyway."
"Then they die anyway. But I'll let you in on a little secret. If anyone can stop the end, it's my little brother. And I seem to have found him on team free will."
With that Atropos vanished and moments later Liz found herself standing in Bobby's living room looking at the Winchester's who wore matching expressions of confusion.
"What just happened?" Sam seemed a little shaken, but who wouldn't be after almost being crushed to death what felt to him like seconds ago.
"I'll explain everything I know, but first get mom, Jo, and Bobby. They need to hear this too." Now that the danger had passed Liz's mind was spinning. She wasn't supposed to exist? What did that even mean?
Okay, so I was asked to show why the boys trust Liz so much so I gave you guys a little peek. I may go more into their history later, show how they met, all that. But the mjor plot changes are future plots, not past. There seemed to be a little confusion on that, sorry. As for character development, it's coming, I promise. I've actually got to really get into it before you see it, right now it's all mostly set up. Anyway, drop me a line to tell me what you think. AndI'm not promising romance, but I do have a question. Do you guys prefer Destiel, or Dean and Jo together. I personal like both, so if I do decide on romance I could go either way. Let me know what you would prefer!
And thanks to Lindsey for the review. Constructive critism is always welcome, and I aprreciate your thoughts on the story!